Introduction

Jon Talbain, also known as Gallon (ガロン), the Werewolf. You probably picked him because he looks cool. You probably stayed with him cos he feels easy to use. You're damn right about that; Talbain is the easiest, least-technical character in Vampire Savior. Incidentally, he's also one of the best - ranked consistently as top tier, the only characters incontestably better than him being Lord Raptor and Sasquatch. He's absurdly fast; has a lot of easy, high-damaging attacks; and no shortage of cheap shenanigans to pull out of thin air. Perhaps his only weakness lies in his predictability; but, that weakness will only go as far as you allow it to.

For all these reasons, if you start picking J.Talbain in competitive play, people will likely start to HATE you. I'm serious. If you're no stranger to competitive fighters, you probably know that there's at least one or two cheesy characters in each fighting game that everyone likes to complain about: In ST, it's Vega or O.Sagat. In 3S, it's Chun-Li. In Vampire Savior, Talbain is, without a doubt, that character, and rightfully so.

That being said, if you feel that he's truly the character for you, stick with him. The truth about Talbain is, while he's an absolute nightmare in novice and intermediate level play, the Talbain scrubs will thin out in high level play, because even with a character like Talbain, you still have to be good to win in the upper echelons of play.

Primary objective: Hit people with normal Beast Cannons. Keep them honest with ES Beast Cannons. Hit them a lot.

General Strengths/Weaknesses

Strengths

Walking Speed: Talbain has the fastest walking speed in the game, both going forward and backwards, by a rather large margin.

Walking Animation: Talbain is low to the ground when he walks, making it hard to hit him with jump-in combos. Also, more obviously, it allows him to walk under almost every projectile in the game.

Height: Talbain is shorter than average when standing AND when crouching, rendering some characters' combos inept when fighting Talbain.

Jump: Talbain's jump is very fast; in other words, he reaches the peak of his jump very quickly after he takes off, and lands just as quickly. This makes his jump rather hard to react to for some characters, which is a huge advantage in and of itself.

Long-Reaching Attacks: A lot of Talbain's useful moves extend fairly far in front of him. While not the longest-ranged attacks in the game by any stretch, an advantage is an advantage, right? For that matter, his B&B special move, the Beast Cannon, is a self-projectile that reaches full screen.

Easy and Powerful combos: Almost all of Talbain's B&B combos do as much as 33% damage, and as much as 50%! And to top it off, they're all really easy, and require very little practice to perform properly. This alone gives Talbain the easiest learning curve in the game.

So, overall, he's incredibly fast, incredibly hard to hit, and will put the hurt on anyone that allows him to - and with minimal effort.

Weaknesses

Health: Talbain has slightly lower than average vitality. Admittedly, this doesn't usually hurt Talbain very much, but any character who can pin him will no doubt enjoy knowing that Talbain can't take as many hits as other characters.

Lack of Defensive Options: He has no invulnerability on any of his moves except for this command throw and DF activation. Talbain's Guard Cancel is also slow to start up - making it easy to bait - and the trajectory of it makes IE likely to whiff entirely, whether it was baited or not. Talbain's Dark Force is hard to use as an evasive maneuver because it's the shortest-lasting Dark Force in the game. One slip and you'll take a lot of damage. On top of lacking some utility with the universal defensive options, he lacks a reliable anti-air attack. So, once the pressure's on Talbain, he doesn't have much of a choice but to wait it out.

Difficult Ground game: Talbain has a more difficult time applying pressure on the ground (or near the ground, if you consider IADs) than most characters. Although his ultimate potential is still very high, his dash is much harder to utilize in rushdown than other characters. This makes his ground game hard to play properly, and perhaps the only aspect of Talbain's game which requires any technical prowess (which is why new Talbain players just jump a lot). You need to know very specific spacing to use your Dashes, and you need to learn how to apply pressure with quick block strings mixed in with Talbain's Quick Move (D+3K).

Overall, what this means for Talbain is that he eventually becomes predictable. To overcome this predictability, you have to learn how to defend intelligently, and you need to learn how to play with Talbain on the ground as well as in the air. Otherwise, when you start playing good players, you'll quickly realize that they've all got your number before the round even starts.

Normal Moves

Standing

LP

[ Startup: 4 | Hit: +6 | Block: +5 ]

Talbain's Standing Jab isn't particularly outstanding; however, it has some situational uses that are very important to know. First off, this is the move you'll be using for Guard Breaks. Second is that it's one of Talbain's important moves for stopping Instant Air Dash (IAD) pressure. When the IAD is initiated in close proximity to Talbain, this is your fastest and most reliable answer, for better or worse.

MP

[ Startup: 7 | Hit: +4 | Block: +3 ]

The only thing this move is really good for is baiting Guard Cancels; if you look at the hitbox, Talbain's vulnerable box doesn't expand outward nearly as far as his other standing normals. It's still not a GREAT option for baiting GCs, but it's worth remembering.

n.MP

[ Startup: 6 | Hit: +3 | Block: +2 ]

You won't be actively using this move; but, for what it's worth, it does more damage than its faraway counterpart, so smile if this one comes out during a chain.

HP

[ Startup: 9 | Hit: +6 | Block: +5 ]

Standing Fierce can be used for zoning to a small extent, but will fall to the wayside for his better options. More importantly, this is a good finisher for damage-oriented chain combos..

n.HP

[ Startup: 8 | Hit: +3 | Block: +2 ]

I used to see no use for this move, but I did find one good use for this move by watching a great Talbain player: You can use this move as a meaty on wakeups or resets. Since the startup is different from Talbain's other usual pressure normals, its use for Variable Blockstun Pressure is wonderful. Try doing meaty Close S.Hp -> C.Hk a few times if you find your opponent likes to try and AG everything or jump all the time.

LK

[ Startup: 5 | Hit: +5 | Block: +4 ]

This move might be more important if Talbain ever had to rely on it, cos the hitbox and frame advantage are not half bad. As it stands, though, Talbain is super agile and has a hop dash, so you won't be seeing this move too often. Also, it doesn't hit low. Laaaaaame!

n.LK

[ Startup: 5 | Hit: +3 | Block: +2 ]

It's a less reliable version of Standing Jab; it has all the same uses (Guard Breaks and IAD Defense), but with lower priority and the added possibility of getting the Far Standing Short, which has absolutely no use for either of those situations. Seriously, stay away from the the Light Kick button if you are standing!

MK

[ Startup: 6 | Hit: +2 | Block: +1 ]

There is one, esoteric use for this move outside of combos: it's Talbain's best jump-deterrent from far ranges. Throw this in during ground pressure on occasion to keep your opponent from randomly jumping out. This move does more damage than its crouching counterpart, so if you're starting a chain combo from really close, don't be shy to throw in this move instead of Crouching Forward.

HK

[ Startup: 9 | Hit: 0 | Block: -1 ]

Considering Talbain's propensity for landing the Close version of this move, you're bound to get a few of these on accident. Do not, however, proactively try and use this move, because it's just begging to get GC'ed and is not a very happy move on block in the first place.

n.HK

[ Startup: 7 | Hit: -3 | Block: -4 ]

From a theoretical standpoint, this move looks like crap; the hitbox is stupid, and it has a frame disadvantage on HIT. However, this is one of Talbain's best move, as it's a pivotal part of his throw option select; go for a throw using the Hk button, and if your opponent attempts to escape by jumping, they'll be swatted out of the air by this move, resetting the situation. Don't be fooled - this move is awesome.

Crouching

c.LP

[ Startup: 5 | Hit: +5 | Block: +4 ]

One of Talbain's extremely important normals. It has an absurdly large and long-reaching hitbox for a Crouching Jab, it hits low, and can be canceled into special moves. It's also pivotal in Talbain's ground pressure, as he relies heavily on the reach of his normals combined with his Quick Move and hop dashes to lock an opponent down. Don't be surprised if a lot of your big-damage ventures start with a Crouching Jab.

c.MP

[ Startup: 8 | Hit: +1 | Block: 0 ]

This is another important part of Talbain's pressure strings, as it allows him to do some ground pressure from farther away than C.Lp without the use of a dash. Its range is unnecessarily long and is also another excellent move for dealing with IAD Pressure when the opponent starts the IAD from a fair distance away.

c.HP

[ Startup: 9 | Hit: -8 | Block: -9 ]

Thanks to the terribad frame disadvantage on hit and block, it's imperative that this move be used only as an anti-air. Incidentally, this move is pretty situational thanks to how long it takes for the move's active hitbox to reach its full height. When the situation DOES call for C.Hp, though, it tends to be surprisingly powerful. Try using it in a Talbain mirror match and have a laugh when the opposing Talbain can't jump in on you at all. ...Also, try it in other situations.

c.LK

[ Startup: 5 | Hit: +5 | Block: +4 ]

You'll be seeing a lot of this move in pressure strings with Talbain, usually immediately after starting pressure with a C.Lp. It's also important to throw this out intermittently during pressure strings because it's the only really solid GC bait that Talbain has, thanks to the relatively small vulnerable hitbox. Learn to use this move intelligently unless you love taking Demon Cradles to the face.

c.MK

[ Startup: 7 | Hit: +3 | Block: +2 ]

This is like the MVP of all Talbain's normals. It's very quick, has a long range, and a variety of uses. It can be used in Talbain's pressure strings to peg jumpers. It can be canceled into Quick Move for positioning. It's also the prime candidate for comboing into ES Beast Cannon for big damage, which can be done during pressure or just after connecting a jump-in. If you really want to spice things up, try canceling this move into ES Beast Cannon from max range; it will not combo, but it WILL leave just enough time for your opponent to try some sort of counter or escape (and fail), allowing you to land the entire BC anyways.

c.HK

[ Startup: 9 | Hit: Knockdown | Block: -6 ]

Talbain's sweep isn't all that great, but it has its uses. It will most commonly see use as a finisher for a knockdown-oriented chain combo. Another more esoteric use is for Talbain's ground pressure game; after canceling a normal into Quick Move, Talbain can throw this out for a ghetto high/low mixup game in tandem with his short hop dashes. Due to the long startup, however, this is not the safest maneuver; although it's a powerful option, it should be used with discretion.

Jumping

j.LP

[ Startup: 5 ]

As a jumping attack, this move doesn't have a lot of use. As with some of Talbain's other normals, it's not so much that it's a bad move as it is that Talbain just has even better options. It does have the fastest startup of Talbain's horizontal-reaching jump attacks, so it may be of use in like 1/100 matches?

As a dashing attack, this move sees a lot more use, thanks to the power of the the dash link [D.Lk, D.Lp] against cornered opponents.

j.MP

[ Startup: 6 ]

As a jumping attack, this move sees a bit of situational use in air-to-air defense, but its primary use is to lengthen your air chains for Chicken Guard mind games and setting up Guard Breaks.

As a dashing attack, this can be linked into Dashing Forward, but this is ultimately a rare occurrence; Talbain's dash attacks are pretty much exclusively used as overheads, and Dashing Strong will whiff crouching opponents. ...So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that the dashing version of this move has little-to-no practical use in a real match.

j.HP

[ Startup: 7 ]

As a jumping attack, this move is very powerful as a jump-in and will overwhelm many characters' anti-air defenses entirely when used in conjunction with crossup J.Lk. If you anticipate a mistake from your opponent, it can be chained into J.Hk before landing into a very big damage combo.

As a dashing attack, this attack is decent as a surprise finisher if you think it will end the match. Otherwise, it can be used as a meaty attack against opponents who like to roll back on wakeup. In that particular situation, it's pretty easy to follow it up with a chain combo or use it for a tick throw.

j.LK

[ Startup: 5 ]

As a jumping attack, this is an extremely important jump-in. What it lacks in power compared to J.Hp, it more than makes up for with its greater priority and superfluously easy crossup potential. It can be used as an ambiguous crossup after knocking down an opponent in the corner, and is generally the only reliable way to hit confirm into Moment Slice [Crossup J.Lk \/ C.Lp -> C.Mp XX Moment Slice]. Use this move liberally.

As a dashing attack, this move has a high amount of utility. It can be used in a short hop dash during Talbain's ground pressure game for some high/low mixup, and can also be used against cornered opponents to start a dash link [D.Lk, D.Lp]. The dash link works on all but the shortest characters, but the flipside to this is that against those short characters, it's very easy for Talbain to do a crossup short hop attack.

Basically, this move rules. Do it.

j.MK

[ Startup: 6 ]

As a jumping attack, this move is pretty important. Its reach and priority are very high, making it a good utility move in many situations. It also has crossup potential (albeit pretty low), and is part of Talbain's meter-building empty air chain (J.Mk, J.Hk). If Talbain connects with this move deep enough, it can also be comboed into a Beast Cannon.

As a dashing attack, this move is important for use as a short hop attack from ranges too far for the use of Dashing Short. It's also part of Talbain's other important Dash Link (D.Mk, D.Lk), which works on taller characters in the corner AND midscreen. This makes the move a very important part of Talbain's ground pressure against tall characters.

j.HK

[ Startup: 7 ]

As a jumping attack, this move's primary use is for zoning in the air. It can be used as a jump-in in most matches, but it can and will whiff shorter characters, especially B.B Hood and Q-Bee. So, make sure to be conscientious when using this move against shorties.

As a dashing attack, it works pretty similarly to Dashing Fierce (gimmicky finisher, tick throw). It's not very good as a meaty for landing a chain combo afterwards, but it makes up for that with the gimmicky use of being able to hit people from far away for doing dumb stuff. See how long it takes a Q-Bee or Rapter player to wise up and stop doing IADs from full screen after pegging them with this move over and over again. Finally, this is a randomly good maneuver against Lilith, as Talbain can dash over a grounded Soul Flash from fullscreen and kick her in the face.

Command Normals

6MK:

[ Startup: 10 | Hit: +2 | Block: +1 ]

This is just like the normal S.Mk, but Talbain takes a step towards the opponent first. Doing this move will end a chain combo. It's generally used in pressure situations if you anticipate that your opponent will try and escape your pressure by jumping back.

Normal Throws

P Throw: If you're smart, you won't be using this as much as Talbain's Kick Throw, since the Kick Throw has a built-in Option Select. Still, the Punch Throw is handy in very specific instances; particularly, if you anticipate a Tech Hit and you haven't buffered the motion for Wild Circular (Talbain's Command Throw), Punch Throw is excellent in this situation because Talbain recovers from the throw very quickly. Conversely, Talbain's Kick Throw recovers just barely before his opponent gets back on the ground, so it doesn't leave Talbain a lot of breathing room to do much else except another throw. You won't be using this often, but don't forget about it, either.

This throw can also be used after Dark Force Activation to set up an unblockable.

K Throw: First rule: Always, always, always throw with Roundhouse Kick. Using Roundhouse gives Talbain an Option Select; stay on the ground and get thrown, or jump and get reset immediately by Close Standing Roundhouse. Other than that, this throw is effective because of the horizontal space is covers, making it easy to put an opponent in the corner.

K-Throw places the opponent backwards, causing turn around frames & negating the opponents ability to perform a REVERSAL. If the K-Throw is used to complete the first bat, Gallon will be backwards & cannot complete a REVERSAL.

Air Throw: ...Uhh...Well, it IS an air throw. I don't use it often, but it also causes Talbain to cover a lot of ground horizontally, so it CAN be useful...

Pursuit

Pursuit: Pretty crappy Pursuit overall. Slow travel time, and low damage because it's only one hit (ES Pursuit is still only two hits). It's still effective to use as a late Pursuit to stay on your opponent though, so be sure to learn the timing for that.

Movement

Gallon's front step.

Walk: Talbain's walk animation & idle crouching animation is the second shortest in the game. It makes his vulnerable hitbox shorter and wider. He can walk under almost any fireball in the game, except for obvious ones like B.B Hood's low fireball. Watch out when trying to walk under a fireball and counter-attack; if you use the wrong moves while under a fireball, Talbain's hitbox will extend upwards, causing him to get hit by the fireball anyways.

Dash: Talbain's Dash is a hop dash. It's probably the hardest of all three hop dashes to use effectively (and perhaps the only technically difficult maneuver with Talbain at all), but it's also a huge boon to his pressure game, so learn how to short hop effectively with D.Lk and D.Mk.

Also worth knowing are his two main dash links:

[D.Lk, D.Lp] will against cornered opponents; it'll only whiff against shorties.

[D.Mk, D.Lk] works midscreen and from far ranges, but it only hits tallies.

Talbain can do pretty much any ground combo afterwards; however, I recommend against comboing into an ES Beast Cannon because the damage scaling is very poor.

Jump: Talbain's jump is so fast that from midscreen, you can anticipate your opponent throwing out a Medium or Hard attack, and do a jump-in into anything. Is it any wonder why new players abuse it so much? Make sure you abuse it too, but know your limits.

Specials

Beast Cannon – 236P:

(Normal Version): The normal Beast Cannon is an unappreciated move. The Beast Cannon attacks, for the uninitiated, will travel in one direction, and at any point, you can press a direction and punch to start traveling in that direction.

While it is definitely risky, you can use it for a variety of mixup, pressure, and spacing applications. You can attack with Beast Cannon, and on block, either move backward to avoid retaliation, cross behind them and THEN move backward for a cross-up, do a double-towards to punish slow normals, or even stop after the first one and throw them. If your opponent likes to try and counter between hits, you can do a double-towards where you intentionally don't connect the first one, throwing the usual timing off. You can use it to move forward and backwards in neutral situations to try and trick your opponent into making a reckless move.

Gallon is considered airborne for the entire duration of beats cannon. He cannot be thrown.

(ES Version): The ES Version of the horizontal Beast Cannon is outrageously amazing, and is the one you'll be doing a lot. It's the one you'll be comboing into off of ground normals, and it also has use as a corner escape, due to its long distance trajectory and quick travel time. Also, use it Psychic-Shoryuken style from full screen to punish any reckless movement from full screen whatsoever. For a fun game, see how many Rikuo players you can piss off by hitting this move full screen every time they do a plainly-telegraphed backwards jump and do the Poison Attack as soon as they land.

Does not get traditionally Anti-Air'd

Low-risk & Medium-reward

Provides a new angle of approach

Timing can vary to beat Tech-Hit attempts

on-hit, can easily combo into ES-Climb_Razor

Landing during the active frames of the 2nd cannon is frame advantage. Gallon may make more offensive decisions

Air Beast Cannon – 236P (air):

This is a variation of the other Beast Cannon attack, done in mid-air, which travels diagonally towards Talbain's opponent.

(Normal Version): THIS move is the real hotness. In 'neutral' situations where neither character has the offensive advantage, you'll want to fish for knockdowns with this move. It's an easy way to get a knockdown without having to move into dangerous territory, and the cost of being knocked down against Talbain is so great that most opponents won't try and hit you out of it frequently. It's very safe on block unless you connect it very high up on a standing opponent, as well. Finally, it's very easy to juggle an ES Climb Razor after landing this move, making it his most important B&B Combo. I doubt I need to explain why getting the offensive advantage with a safe knockdown attack that leads to a braindead easy, two-move 40% damage combo is important to do, so use this a lot.

(ES Version): I sometimes use this if I'm sure my opponent will throw a fireball. After all, why counter with a chain combo when you can get an entire ES Beast Cannon sequence instead? Just don't use this version when trying the [Air BC \/ ES Climb Razor] combo, or the ES Climb Razor is pretty much guaranteed to whiff.

Beast Cannon (diagonal) – 623P (GC):

This is a variation of the other Beast Cannon attack, which travels diagonally towards Talbain's opponent.

(Normal Version): This variation isn't used a lot. HOWEVER, it's very important against IAD characters. It keeps them honest by keeping them from jumping on wakeup. The next time they try it, break out with this move immediately as they get up and watch them get knocked back down. Keep doing it until the learn to keep their feet planted firmly on the ground as they get up. You can also use this against Air-Dashers of any kind who like to commit to air-dashes from far away, as they won't be able to block it. This can be used similarly against any character if you think they will try and jump on wakeup or throw out a slow attack; however, it's pretty uncommon to use this in any situation other than against IAD characters.

(ES Version): I suppose this could be used for all the exact same situations as the normal version. Keep in mind, though, that if you guess wrong and the move is blocked, you're losing a whole meter for nothing. If your 'Yomi' (ability to predict your opponent's actions) is really good, then give it a whirl. If you're not absolutely sure, you're wasting your meter.

(GC Version): Gains 15F invulnerability frames by virtue of being a GC. Not an especially good GC because the startup is so slow and the angle is poor for hitting people, but it can be used for escaping bad situations, such as getting out of the corner. It sees more use against pressure rushdown characters, but in general is a bit dangerous.

As a final note, this move is Talbain's Guard Cancel. This may sound cool at first, but keep in mind that GCs do half damage, so you don't actually have an epic 50%-life ES Guard Cancel. Also, the hitbox is really tiny, so don't even think about using it unless your opponent is right up in your grill.

Climb Razor – 28K:

Keep in mind that this is not a charge move; the motion is executed simply by tapping the directional inputs and pressing Kick.

(Normal Version): The normal Climb Razor is pretty bad. The only thing it really has going for it is that it's one of the few anti-air moves which is unblockable if the opponent is close to landing. If you look at the hitbox though, you'll notice the tradeoff is that the move has abysmal priority. There's only two times I ever use the normal version of Climb Razor:

- An opponent is trying to jump over me and doesn't suspect I'll do anything. I'll just say right now that this pretty much never happens, but if it does, Climb Razor was tailor-made for that oddly-specific circumstance.

- Building meter after landing Moment Slice. You can whiff two of these (Lk Version) after landing Moment Slice, but I generally do just one so that I have enough time to position myself accordingly afterwards.

(ES Version): The ES Version of Climb Razor would be pretty worthless, too, if it weren't for its juggle potential. Connecting this after landing an Air Beast Cannon is very pivotal to Talbain's game, so you should be seeing a healthy amount of this. For an added flavor splash, try throwing out this move even if your opponent blocks the preceding Air BC. Sometimes, in their recklessness, they'll get hit by the ES Climb Razor anyways.

Million Flicker – 214P:

You can mash the punch button for the Normal Version to keep the move going, similar to moves like Lightning Legs or Hundred Hand Slap.

(Normal Version): I'll admit, this move is pret-ty bad. ...But! As funny as it sounds, if you have the wiggle room to throw this move out (11 Frame Startup; compare that to Talbain's normals which average 6-7 Frame Startups), it's probably Talbain's safest anti-air. It also has the added bonuses of knocking down an airborne opponent and completely humiliating your opponent when they realize they got anti-aired by Million Flicker.

(ES Version): ...Alright, I really don't have anything good to say about this one. If you somehow manage to land a combo during Talbain's Dark Force (not going to happen), any combo into this will do upwards to 3/4ths of a lifebar. Good luck ever getting that to happen, though.

Wild Circular - 624K (close):

Command Throw. It can not be performed with Short Kick; Forward and Roundhouse only.

(Normal Version): Talbain has one of the best Command Throws in the entire game. It has an excellent combination of quick startup, high amount of active grabbing frames (meaning you can be a bit sloppy in your timing), and invincible frames. It also has the built-in Option Select that his normal Kick Throw has, so long as you do it with Roundhouse. There are so many top-notch ways of griefing opponents with this move that I can't even hope to discuss them all in this tiny space. Just do this move, like, all the time. Trust me.

(ES Version): Don't do it. You're spending meter for a menial damage increase. Perhaps if the ES Version gave it a significant boost like Q-Bee's ES Command Throw, it would be worth it; unfortunately, it's not.

Quick Move - 2KKK:

This move is solely for positioning and does no damage. There is also no ES Version. Quick Move is a big part of Talbain's ground pressure game, because he can cancel certain ground normals into it. This allows him to repeatedly pressure with short, erratic block strings without pushing himself too far out of range to continue his rush. Incorporate this into your game, quick.

For you thrill-seekers who Do The Dew, Quick Move can cross to the other side of an opponent, regardless of their state (standing, crouching, knocked down). The next time you land Moment Slice, try corpse-hopping your opponent a few times to see if you can trick them into defending your next attack in the wrong direction.

Gallon can be thrown during startup & recovery frames of QUICK MOVE. During the middle of QUICK MOVE, Gallon is off the ground & throw vulnerable.

EX Attacks (Supers)

Dragon Cannon - 41236KK:

As with most EX Attacks, this move is for specific situations. Dragon Cannon is very effective against opponents about to lose a lifebar. If you think your opponent is going to attack you - especially after a knockdown - throw this move out to punish them for making such a predictably desperate choice. For kicks, try doing this move if you think an opponent is going to roll behind you for a crossup Dragon Cannon.

Command Super. It's important to not that even though the move says to press towards your opponent (6), it can be any toward motion (6, 9, or 3), and you'll usually be comboing with Down-Towards (3).

Most command supers tend to be imperative to a character's game, but Talbain's is not. The main problem is that it's incredibly hard to hit-confirm; it's possible to do [C.Lp -> C.Mp xx Moment Slice]; but your opponent will be pushed too far away if you try to combo it off of a normal jump-in. To mitigate that, you could try [C.Lp/C.Lk xx Moment Slice], but that's still not all that easy to hit confirm (or to execute, for that matter).

There's only one situation where Moment Slice is easy to hit-confirm, and in that instance, it's very important to do land it as much as possible: when landing a crossup J.Lk, do the combo [Crossup J.Lk \/ C.Lp -> C.Mp xx Moment Slice]. Doing Moment Slice when possible is important for Talbain, because it's his best method of dealing red (unrecoverable) damage.

This move can also be used in an Option Select after his neutral J.Lk crossup shenanigans. If you've knocked a cornered opponent down and you anticipate that they will roll towards you, jump straight up from the point where you think the roll will end, and do the following input: [Neutral J.Lk \/ C.Lp -> C.Mp, 3, C.Lk -> C.Mk -> S.Hp].

Basically, go for this move if you land a cross-up, not so much if you didn't. Finally, this move will whiff crouching Q-Bee, so don't do it unless you get your jollies by doing elaborate whiff-to-throw setups.

Dark Force

Illusion Attack: Mirage Body - Same strength P + K:

(Any Version): Mirage Body causes all of Talbain's normals to hit multiple times at slightly staggered intervals, similar to a Variable Combo from Street Fighter Alpha 3. Talbain's Dark Force is crap as a pressure tool, because the duration is too short. If an opponent lands even one string or knockdown on Talbain, it's likely to run out and force a deactivate before he gets the chance to try and deactivate safely.

Variance: Dark Force activation has (2) possible mirage patterns, each with a difference in the timing between Gallon starting an attack & the Mirage starting the same attack. Unfortunately, this makes ll of Gallon's DF combo's unreliable in a match as (1) version is perfect for links & the other is too slow.

It's best used as a a defensive tool, due to it's prolonged invulnerability frames. Some common ways to set up a safe deactivate:

Backdash J.HK, Deactivate

Beast Cannon (towards, then away; 6, 4), Deactivate

Strategies

Gallon doesn't have the insane high/low mixup of the top tiers. What you want to do with Gallon is to zone/poke with his powerful pokes, mixup with throws and Beast Cannon, then for every opening go for his powerful ES Beast Cannon Juggle for the win.

Poking : on the ground use cr.LP (quick, safe), cr.MK (cancelable), cr.MP (fast, good range) and HP. Use cr.HP and close HK to beat jumps. If you predict a jump a cr.MP is usually your best friend, it's really fast and safe.

Gallon's jump is incredible. j.HK and j.MK are your friend in the air. Use them to keep people away from you.

From a distance remember you have your dash to create overheads.

Pressure/mixup :

Use your long range ground pokes and j.MK, j.HP, j.HK to keep the opponent from jumping. Any j.HP that connects leads to whatever big combos you want.

Throws : d.LK, j.LK and cr.LK are good ticks. Also remember cancelable normal xx 2KKK is great for getting in for a throw.

Finally add Beast Cannon to your game. Don't activate it randomly. Find an opening when you jump (if they're afraid of your kicks) or use the ES version (faster, more followups) . Beast Cannon can set up a lot of ambigous crossups and even unblockables.

Combos

Chains

There are three main chain combos to know, and I will list them along with the damage they deal. To understand the numeric damage values, refer to the following explanation:

37/58 <--- First number = Red (permanent damage). Second Number = White (recoverable damage). All characters have 144 HP. Damage numbers tested on a character with average vitality.

1. C.Lp -> C/S.Mp -> C/S.Mk -> S.Hp (26/44 Damage, or 29/47 Damage)

- This is Talbain's primary damage chain. Damage chains are primarily used as a reset to set up a quick high/low mixup of some sort. They are also useful against characters who have a hard time taking advantage of 'neutral' situations where neither opponent has the offensive advantage (because, in a way, you technically give it up when you do a damage chain and get it back by landing a mixup right afterwards).

Anyways, this chain works on most of the cast, but will miss some characters...and by some characters, I mean Q-Bee. Screw her. The Mp and Mk can be done standing or crouching; the crouching versions have better range, while the standing counterparts deal more damage. The standing Mk will also miss against "some characters" so keep that in mind.

2. C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mp -> C.Mk (20/34 Damage)

- This is Talbain's other damage chain. This one is of course favorable against Q-Bee because it actually works against her. However, it's still plenty useful in other situations. For one, the range on it is better than the first combo, because the finishing attack (C.Mk) has more range than the first combo's finisher (S.Hp). It also is better for resetting a situation, because the spacing is perfect for any dashing option that Talbain has. Try it against taller characters, as it sets up the Dash Link [D.Mk, D.Lk] perfectly.

3. C.Lp -> C.Lk -> C.Mk -> C.Hk (19/35 Damage)

- This is Talbain's knockdown combo. Knockdown chains are less risky than Damage chains, as they (obviously) force a knockdown and leave you with the offensive advantage.

There's not much to be said about it. The range of Talbain's C.Hk isn't particularly great, so I wouldn't generally attempt a different variation on this combo. In fact, sometimes I omit the C.Mk entirely. You will be very sad if the C.Hk whiffs, so if it looks risky, shorten the chain. Remember, your goal is to hit-confirm a knockdown with this chain - not to deal damage.

Dash Links

Of the three characters with Hop Dashes (Talbain, Sasquatch, Felicia), Talbain is the only character who can combo one dashing attack into another. Sasquatch can perform two attacks in a single dash; however, the recovery/startup on his attacks are too great for them to truly link. Use this to your advantage with Talbain. There are two Dash Links to know (Keep in mind that you will obviously follow these up with some sort of ground chain):

1. D.Lk, D.Lp

This is your more common Dash Link. It works on 2/3rds of the cast, and is quite an excellent maneuver to break out with suddenly. This Dash Link is for the corner only! You will fly right over your opponent if they are midscreen.

2. D.Mk, D.Lk

For midscreen purposes, this is what you'll want to be using. Keep in mind that you can still fly over your opponent if you do this too close; you'll want to be at the max range where an instant dashing Mk will hit the opponent. This Dash Link works in the corner as well, but the timing is much stricter than [D.Lk, D.Lp]. so I don't recommend using it in the corner unless you're at the very specific range where this Dash Link will work and the other one won't (i.e not that often).

[D.Mk, D.Lk] works only on taller characters, because most characters can crouch under D.Mk unless used as a Short Hop. So, I've compiled this list for you!

The following characters can be hit by both D.Mk and D.Lk while crouching, meaning that both Dash Links work:

The following characters can only be hit by D.Lk while crouching, meaning only [D.Lk, D.Lp] works:

- L.Rapter
- Sasquatch
- Felicia
- Hsien-Ko

The following characters can only be hit by Short Hops:

- J.Talbain
- BB Hood
- Q-Bee
- Morrigan
- Lilith

B&B Combos

Talbain has three very important combos. I will list them here in order of importance, along with the damage dealt. To understand the numeric damage values, refer to the following explanation:

37/58 <--- First number = Red (permanent damage). Second Number = White (recoverable damage). All characters have 144 HP. Damage numbers tested on a character with average vitality.

So, without further ado...

1. Air Beast Cannon \/ ES Climb Razor (2-4 Hits, 37/53 Damage)

- A lot of people think that Talbain's most important combo is C.Mk XX ES Beast Cannon. That combo is very important, but it requires Talbain to already have the offensive advantage. In Neutral Situations, Talbain's best bet is to fish for a knockdown by safely using Air BCs from max range. Thus, this combo is the most important B&B in his repertoire, as it can be used effectively in any situation - not just when Talbain is in the middle of his rush.

Simply fish for that Air BC, and if it lands, do an ES Climb Razor for big damage (almost 40% of a lifebar!), and then begin your devastating offense. It's an absolutely easy combo, and the one you'll probably see the most. Keep in mind that you should almost never attempt to follow up with an ES Climb Razor if the opponent was airborne when the Air BC connected. ES Climb Razor whiffs practically every time, so it's not worth it.

You can combo an Air BC off of J.Mk if you want a possibly variation on this combo; however, J.Mk XX Air Beast Cannon requires a pretty deep jump-in and a pretty unsafe-on-block Air BC. So, tacking on a J.Mk is more for show than anything else.

2. C.Mk XX ES Beast Cannon (6 Hits, 29/70 Damage)

- This is the combo that makes Talbain infamous. Cancel your Crouching MK into the single most damaging attack in the entire game incredibly easy. Keep in mind, too, that this is the simplest variation; the damage listed assumes no jump-in attack preceded the C.Mk, and it also assumes that Talbain did not follow up with a Pursuit Attack. The damage on this combo can get extremely high.

You'll be using this combo an awful lot as Talbain. There's only two reasons I list this combo below the ES Climb Razor juggle combo in importance. For one, it's really not something you can break out with in a neutral situation. This requires Talbain to already be pressuring his opponent to even have a shot at using it, making it less common than the Climb Razor juggle. For two, the amount of red damage done is piddling. If Talbain loses the advantage after this move (and a lot of Talbain players do, because they tack on the Pursuit Attack for a measly three (3) points of white damage), the combo's damage can potentially be negated.

Use this one often, but be very careful not to back off (or be fended off) afterwards. Better yet, consider using it mainly to finish off an opponent's life bar; then, you don't have to worry about them recovering all that life.

Variations include tacking on a jump-in and adding a Pursuit. Keep in mind that using a Pursuit is usually a poor idea unless it will cause an opponent to lose a lifebar or the match, as it limits the scope of Talbain's wakeup games significantly. Other variations include comboing it off of a Short Hop/Dash Link (which will require you to cancel into ES Beast Cannon from C.Lp, NOT C.Mk). Keep in mind that the damage is lowered pretty significantly when doing this, though - especially when using the Dash Links, the white damage can be as low as nineteen (19) points. Not really worth it, considering how difficult it is to pull off.

Moment Slice is a very important attack to land at any point when it's possible, as it nets the most red damage out of any of his attacks. The only problem is, while your options for landing Moment Slice are aplenty, many of them are either difficult to hit-confirm or situation-specific. This combo is the most consistent method of landing Moment Slice, so be sure to take an opportunity to cross up opponents whenever you can.

There are tons of variations: The above combo can be done without crossing up, but it requires Talbain to land point blank in front of his opponent (not very likely to happen). Many jump-ins can combo into Moment Slice if the C.Mp is omitted; however, those are not easy to hit-confirm. If you can pull it off consistently without the C.Mp, then you might consider comboing it off of a Short Hop/Dash Link. Thankfully, unlike doing Dash combos into ES Beast Cannon, Dash combos into Moment Slice are virtually unaffected by damage scaling.

...Oh, and also keep in mind that Moment Slice can also whiff "Some Characters". Grrr.

ES Ground Beast Cannon Follow-ups

1. Midscreen

9-7-9-2

7-6-7-2

7-9-7-2 (Swap Positions)

8-6-8-3 (Corner Push)

2. Corner

9-9-9-9 (Doesn't work on all characters)

8-9-9-3 (Works against the entire cast)

3. Guard Cancel

1-8-4-8

Matchups

I will update individual matches with more info later. For now, I'll give a general idea of how I see Talbain's matches. Keep in mind that there is also a Japanese matchup chart with opinions of higher level Japanese players, which may also be useful. In general, though, my disagreements with the matchup chart are that I find Talbain's matchups with the top tiers to be more in his favor, and his matchups with the bottom tiers to be slightly less in his favor.

Gallon Memos

K-Throw places the opponent backwards, causing turn around frames & negating the opponents ability to perform a REVERSAL. If the K-Throw is used to complete the first bat, Gallon will be backwards & cannot complete a REVERSAL.

Gallon is considered airborne for the entire duration of beast cannon. He cannot be thrown.

Gallon can be thrown during startup & recovery frames of QUICK MOVE. During the middle of QUICK MOVE, Gallon is off the ground & throw invulnerable.

Beast Cannon's downwards animation is always facing to the right (P1-Side), regardless if Gallon is player-1, player-2 or on either side of the screen. This can cause additional turn-around frames for some situations. This also determins the knock-back direction of if the attacks is hit or blocked.